MSNBC Admits It Was Wrong in Caving to Right-Wing Activist

Contributor Sam Seder was fired Monday by MSNBC over a tweet he made in 2009. By Thursday he had been rehired. (YouTube)

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In the span of just three days, MSNBC fired then rehired Sam Seder over a tweet the liberal contributor made eight years ago after it was discovered by a "far-right provocateur," the Intercept reports. The Washington Post states the whole bizarre situation "perhaps says something about the fraught politics of the moment." Here's what Seder tweeted in 2009: "Don't care re Polanski, but I hope if my daughter is ever raped it is by an older truly talented man w/a great sense of mise en scene." Seder says the tweet is a satirical criticism of people defending Polanski. Mike Cernovich, who propagated the "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory during the election and has claimed date rape is something made up by liberals, disagreed, claiming recently that Seder was endorsing rape.

MSNBC sided with Cernovich and fired Seder on Monday. That led to a wave of criticism from journalists and others. One senior MSNBC employee tells CNN the decision to fire Seder was "really weak" and "pathetic." On Wednesday, MSNBC reversed course, with president Phil Griffin offering Seder his old gig back. “Sometimes you just get one wrong,” Griffin says. Seder has accepted the offer. "I appreciate MSNBC’s thoughtful reconsideration and willingness to understand the cynical motives of those who intentionally misrepresented my tweet for their own toxic, political purposes," Seder says. And it's safe to say the incident hasn't softened him on Cernovich. "Mike Cernovich is not everything that's wrong with society, but he is definitely the low hanging fruit of what's wrong with society," Seder says.